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Three things of note arrived in Merida recently.
First, the locusts arrived (can you see them in the photo?). We’ve been hearing about them and reading about them in the paper. Today they arrived en masse in the Centro Historico. They seemed to be circling the Santa Ana area in amazing numbers. They don’t hurt humans and they were flying more than landing. Everyone, from albaniles on the rooftops to grandmothers in the calles stopped to watch this most unusual force of nature. It turns out some did come to earth, however. Our former neighbors reported the disappearance of a rather large heliconia plant due to the hungry langostas.
The second thing that arrived today was the new sculpture exhibit on Paseo Montejo. This marks the sixth such exhibit that the Museum of Contemporary Art of Yucatan (MACAY) has supervised, according to their website. Exhibits are removed each year before Carnaval and then a new exhibit is installed before Semana Santa. We remember at least three different exhibits over the years, including sculptures from other parts of Mexico and from countries around the world. For the current exhibit, featured works from Japan will grace the wide walkways of Paseo Montejo for the next ten months.
This new exhibit looks interesting already, as you can see by the photo. We think the sculpture exhibit gets better every time, so we’re looking forward to walking the dogs one day soon and taking in all that new public art. Also according to their website, MACAY is planning a permanent outdoor sculpture park for an area near the ruins at Dzibilchaltun, which points to the success and appreciation of public art here in Merida.
Lastly, The new Yucatan Living bookmarks arrived from the printer today. They look great, if we do say so ourselves. The marcadores (bookmarks) have a list of the most important emergency phone numbers that a person might need while living in Merida. The numbers include hospitals, ambulances, 24-hour veteranarians and more. They will be available for free at the Merida English Library Chili Cookoff and Bazaar this Sunday. After that, they will be at the Merida English Library for anyone who wants one. Pick one up the next time you’re there and keep it handy. They’re sturdy enough to really use as a bookmark and attractive enough to adorn your refrigerator. We hope you’ll find your marcador a useful reference and a handy reminder of the Yucatan Living website.
- MACAY Museum’s website (in English)
- Merida English Library Cookoff Information
- Backyard Nature on Locusts in the Yucatan
- Merida Emergency Numbers permanent Yucatan Living page
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Great idea. I “bookmarked” your article on emergency numbers on my computer, but it won’t be much good if the electricity goes.
Thanks
Sorry if I have posted this reply in the wrong place…
I first want to say thank you for your writtings, they are very well thought out, written and informative.
My husband, daughter and I are dreaming of moving to Mexico sometime in the next few years. We are at the begining stages of planning and I just wanted to ask a question regarding safety, what type of security does the average gringo need to undertake to keep their home and family safe? Bars? Alarms? Dogs? Nothing?
Perhaps you have covered this in a previous article, I searched your site but couldn’t find any similar topic – sorry.
Thanks again for taking the time to make this site so great!!!
Sorry, I should have been more specific, I meant in the city Merida. I wouldn’t expect you to answer for the whole country…
Actually, Tammy, we did write something about that very subject:
http://www.yucatanliving.com/editorial/safe-to-travel-live-in-yucatan.htm
Most people here have protectores on their windows (decorative wrought iron coverings), few have alarms and many of us have dogs. Like any big city, there are bound to be some people that are breaking the law. But we still feel safer here than we did in Los Angeles or New York, by far.
And thanks for the compliments… we’ll keep making the site great if you will keep visiting!
I’m sure someone will correct me, but I believe crime here is one of opportunity. If you read the police reports in the Diario you will get a better feel for what passes as crime here. I feel perfectly safe walking the streets at any hour. Of course, at 5′2″ tall I am as tall as most men here, and probably outweigh them too.
Theresa
lol!
So that’s why I’ve never been robbed!
I remember, years ago, somebody saying that nobody does crime in Merida because they wouldn’t have anywhere to run to… LOL I don’t think it is quite that simple – but I have never worried about crime and have lived in Yucatan, by myself, twice. I do have dogs, but never worried a bit about “crime” – any time of the day or night. Kids playing in the street long after bedtime, loud music, firecrackers til all hours – but never crime.
Another new arrival in Merida is the Amate Bookstore on Calle 60 (C. 51), a branch of the famous Amate Books of Oaxaca.
The specialty of this new book shop is its emphasis on English language books about Mexico, and especially Yucatan.
Manager Kai Delvendahl welcomes new customers, and is planning special events to be held in this beautiful new space.
It is so refreshing to read you information about my home-town Merida and how you look at the life style of the meridans, I have lived in California for the last 30 years I enjoy the good life and the gorgeous California weather but everytime I go back to visit Merida I don’t want to leave, it is like having to homes, two loves..I feel divided..how do you do it? I mean living a good life in Merida? being a gringo?..
Please send me a comment. Thank you. Genny La Peregrina.
Hola Genny…Working Gringa here. I love life in Merida but I often miss California, my home for so many years. It *is* like having two homes and no matter where I am, I miss the other one. Now that I have lived in Merida for so long, I will always miss it when I’m not here. I try to just appreciate either place when I am there and appreciate that I have had the privilege of living in both places in my life.
Let me give you people a view from “Working Yucateca”, my wife Ariadna, about crime in Merida. Yes, Merida is relatively safe. Yet, my wife still feels nervous getting off work at night from the Museo. Also, when getting off the Combies near her home at night. A strange man approach my wife 1 night when she got off work, she was going to the Combie (Van) stop. The man asked if he could take her picture with his camera phone. My wife was scared. She didn’t know his intentions. Another night, my wife spotted a peeping tom looking in her window. Needless to say, her father and brothers and friends on the street was looking for this man to teach him a leason. Merida is relatively safe. But, also use common sense. Merida is not 100% safe. If I had been in Merida the night that man approach my wife for a foto, I’d might be in a Merida jail for kicking his backside. We Tejanos don’t play around when it comes to our women.
I wonder what people think of the theory that locusts have appeared in greater numbers since Hurican Isadoro? I know a couple country places that were thick with wild parrots – various birds of all types – and a week, even two weeks, after Isadoro, none were to be seen or heard. Supposedly most had been blown south (or flown away) rather than killed.
But, without birds to feast on them, what would temper the hatching of more and more locusts?
The year or two immediately after, it seems the locusts were more intense. Does it seem that way to anyone else? Or maybe the phenom is not as apparent in the city?
Anyway, the country places now have a nice variety of birds again, but still not in nearly the quantities as before Isadoro.
Safety-wise, I think all the advice is accurate. Crime-on-Gringos is low. There is crime in Merida and Yucatan as there is anywhere with people: domestic disputes, drinking and the accompanying abuse, various crimes “of the street” (prostitution, drugs, muggings). But nearly all of that is Yucateco-on-Yucateco crime. And supposedly much of it is in the south of the city, although I have good friends in two different parts of the south who have never experienced any crime at all.
Still, anyplace that has extremes of wealth and poverty is going to have crime. Even more accurately, anyplace that has people is going to have crime. One US study found that crime in gated communities was not lower than other areas – people are inside with you behind the gate, you know.
Bars – protectores – on the windows prevent crimes of opportunity. A good caretaker or house-sitter prevents more (for absentee landlords). But, if you are in a neighborhood (as opposed to lodged between businesses, I suppose), the neighbors look out for one another. In my little corner, one of the first things I was told by Manuel at the corner coke stand was that all the neighbors look out for each other. They have no crime because everyone knows everyone and life would be miserable for the whole family of someone who had a thief in their midst. This was volunteered to me. I, being blissfully ignorant, never had the thought cross my mind.
So, yes, there is crime. And no, it normally isn’t much to worry about. Well, that’s my 2ยข.
Crime is an issue anywhere in the world. The key, as most have stated, is using common sense.
Hola.,
Gracias regarding your comment about living here and there, you are absolutly right, when I am in Merida I miss Califonia and then viceversa, We just have to let go and enjoy the momentoes…regarding crime, unfourtunately it is everywhere but the crime rate is always higher in the big cities, using common sense of the surroundings and helping each other with the neighboors is always a good thing. Thanks again about your articles I really enjoy reading them all. God Bless.
Hola,
I am interested in visiting Merida for a month and working on my espanol. I managed a free ticket to Cancun but find that airfare from CUN to MID is as much as if I flew directly from home. Are there no cheap hopper flights between the two? I don’t really want to drive myself (alone) from Cancun… is there an express bus I could look into?
gracias
Yes, absolutely, the express bus is the way to go. You can catch a shuttle from the Cancun airport to the Cancun bus station. The bus costs about $20 US and takes about 4 hours. The buses are comfortable and very air-conditioned (take a sweater). They show B-movie videos on a screen with Spanish subtitles. And they usually give you a bottle of water as part of the ticket.
You will arrive cool and refreshed in Merida at the Fiesta Americana or the ADO (South) bus station, both of which are regularly attended by taxis.
Easy!
Muchas gracia por la informacion.
When I recently visited Merida I stopped in to the new Amati Books. I purchased some books and had a wonderful conversation with the new manager who is German. I want to contact the bookstore about purchasing some books that were too large to carry home and I would like a phone number and the name of the store manager.
Thank you
The Amate Bookstore, which is located on Calle 60 and Calle 51, can be reached at 924-2222. For a photo and info about the store and store manager, you can see our previous article here.
How much does it cost in the area to rent a decent 3 bedroom apt. or house on a long term basis?
As in any city, you can find a range of houses that fit that description for different prices. In the most desirable parts of the centro or in the north, you might pay $800-1200 US. In more southern parts of the city, or the outlying areas, you might be able to find something lower. We rent a 3-bedroom house with a yard right now on Calle 82 at Calle 69 for $700 a month (no pool… prices are higher if the house has a pool).
Hope that helps!
My wife and I live in the US now. We have decided to retire in a Latin American Country. We are concidering the coastal area around Chelem or Progreso. We do have some safety concerns. I am a gringo and my wife is Colombian. My question is, as you gat away from Meridan toward the coast are there more security concerns? We have seen some beautiful properties on the coast. These are some of the most beautiful beachs we have seen in our searchs!!
I love ur site!! As an American with a girlfriend in GDL and a passion for ancient ruins, I, too, am looking for a place in the Yucatan. I have three questions. How developed do u think Vallolidad might be 5 years from now? Any other small colonial cities with houses of architectural merit? (Izamal?) Would u opt for a house in the city or out of the city?(lets use Merida as the example)
Muchisimas gracias! Que bueno que todos celebran lo que ofrece Merida!
I just got back from my third trip to ‘la ruta puuc’..it never gets old!
I should add..Ive lived my whole life in NYC (brooklyn), so Im ur typical city dweller.
Congratulations on your articles. They are very informative and I love reading through it to stay updated with my querida Merida.
Sara
Mundo Maya Foundation
Los Angeles, CA
Thank you so much for your informative site. I plan to retire to Merida at age 60 in 3 years. When I say retire…..I mean from the rat-race in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I currently have a couple of internet businesses that I am able to continue from anywhere on the planet…..but I would love to hear from you personally about journalism opportunities from Merida. Also, as a Health Care Practitioner, I would like to ask your audience about the availability of Health Food Stores (carrying nutritional supplements) in Merida and whether or not supplements can be ordered over the internet and delivered through Customs from both Canada and the States.
Thank you…..Linda
Those bookmarks would be invaluable. Another way to help and assist those making their way to Merida. Thanks for doing that to the WG’s.
We saw the recent HGTV “hacienda style in Mexico” with the two young men who purchased a home in Merida and it was fantastic. I did have to agree with them that the plunge or dip pool was tiny, and I loved it when Mitch called it a martini.
The homes were gorgeous and displayed three totally different styles, as well as the home which the young men had missed out on earlier.
It did a great job of showing some of the wonderful things which are in Merida, the churches, and other things. Mitch is wonderfully low key and has a great sense of humor and kudos to he and the young men. Their house is simply gorgeous and I hoe they are very happy there. Both of them must be terribly adventurous to have spent the three years in Tokyo and then have found themselves going all the way to Merida. It is obviously becoming a destination known around the world.